1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a non-woven interlining fabric useful in the construction of garments, particularly coats and jackets. More especially this invention relates to a non-woven interlining having distinct zones characterized by different binder contents therein, said zones joining one another by an intermediate zone formed by a merging of the binders of each of the other zones, the binder in the zones separated by the intermediate zone being uniformly distributed therein. This invention relates especially to a non-woven interlining material having a first zone and a second zone proximate said first zone but not contiguous therewith, each of said first and second zones containing a liquid binder therein to impart to the zones definite flexibility and stiffness characteristics, said first and second zones being connected via an intermediate zone also of non-woven fibers containing binder of said first and second zones, said intermediate zone having flexibility and stiffness characteristics intermediate that of the zones on either side thereof.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Non-woven interlining fabrics are usually bonded by impregnating a non-woven web of fiber uniformly with a bonding agent. Commonly all or some of this impregnation is brought about by doctoring foamed or viscous bonding agent into the web as it passes between a supporting surface and a doctoring means that confines a pool of the bonding agent across the width of the fabric. The supporting surface is generally a roll and usually the doctoring means is as well. Thus commonly two substantially horizontal rolls are so arranged that the web passes over one roll and under the second and foamed adhesive is taken up by the web from a pool that extends across the web between the top of the web and the second roll.
Non-woven and other interlining fabrics have in the past usually had uniform properties across their area, but recently a demand has arisen for multizonal interlinings, that is to say fabrics that have, across their area, zones of differing properties, especially stiffness and handle. These permit a single piece of interlining to be used in a garment, for instance a mantle such as a coat or jacket, requiring interlinings having different properties in different areas. Thus a suitable multizonal interlining should have a bulky, firm rounding effect across the chest area of a coat or jacket with good rolling properties down the length of the garment.
Woven multizonal interlinings have been made by weaving the fabric appropriately. Another process has been described in British Pat. specification No. 911,517. This specification was concerned solely with the production of collar interlinings and in it the interlining is shaped as a collar and produced by printing onto cloth which is to form the interlining a resinous material, the printing being effected by means of an engraved roller or perforated hollow roller or a stencil in such a manner that a larger amount of the resinous material is applied where it is desired to increase stiffness and a lesser amount where the interlining is to be less stiff. The only cloth material described is a woven cotton cloth. Processes are known for providing a variable content of binder in non-woven products; for instance British Pat. specification 928,270 described how different amounts of a single liquid binder composition, and thus different concentrations of binder, can be applied to a web during the formation of a pad. Clearly, however, the requirements for forming a pad, which is necessarily very bulky and generally consists of several layers of fleece laminated to one another and which can have relatively poor surface quality, is very different from the requirements for the formation of an interlining since these have to be thin and have smooth uniform surface texture. A multizonal effect can be obtained in a non-woven interlining by printing lines of a thickened paste in different amounts on the different zones of a previously bonded web, drying it and sometimes calendering the lines of paste into the web. However, this is not entirely satisfactory since it requires additional processing steps and the heavily printed area may become compressed and reduced in thickness whereas this area should preferably be bulky. Also there may be non-uniform distribution of binder in each zone and the transition from the binder in one zone to the binder in the next tends to be sudden.
It has therefore become desirable to provide an interlining material having different binder content therein wherein the stiffness or flexibility characteristics of the binder do not change abruptly from one zone to another. It has become particularly desirable to provide such an interlining material with the zones having different flexibility characteristics although the binder in each zone is uniformly distributed throughout. It has become especially desirable to provide a non-woven interlining material having uniform surface texture and good bulk.